Curtain falls on Zenith Bank Women Basketball League

The 2017 Zenith Bank Women Basketball League, which is the 13th edition, comes to a close today at the National Stadium in Lagos. It is the fifth and final phase of the competition, tagged Final Eight, where the winner of this year’s competition is expected to emerge.

A total of 18 teams began the journey on April 10 in Abuja with the First Phase, while Kaduna and Asaba hosted the second and third phases respectively. Six teams were dropped after the third phase. Ibadan was the venue of the Fourth Phase, where the teams were eventually reduced to the final eight that came to Lagos for the Grand Finale.

The eight teams for the Final Eight are defending champions, First Bank Basketball Club of Lagos, IGP Queens of Lagos, First Deepwater of Lagos and Plateau Rocks of Jos.

Others that also qualified for the Final Eight, which started on July 24, are former champions, Dolphins of Lagos, Customs of Lagos, Delta Force of Asaba and GT2000 of Abuja

First Bank and First Deepwater are the last two teams standing and they will lock horns to determine the winner of the 2017 edition of the national women’s league.

Dolphins were surprisingly stunned by First Deepwater in one of the semifinals, beating the Aboderin girls 70 to 57, while First Bank defeated IGP Queens 93 to 64.

The sponsors, Zenith Bank, are expected to be represented at the final match, while there will be presentation of prizes to players that excelled during the competition.